Check It Out: Helpful Hints from Freixenet for NYE

I'm in the middle of a house purge which means tackling the piles of accumulated wealth that have stacked themselves in every corner of my house. While engaging in a bout of "Dire, Must Keep This!" and "Where Did This Come From?" I rediscovered a little gem that seems holiday appropriate for this evening.

Apparently during the many years in which I made a bottle of Freixenet central to my New Year's celebrations, I acquired a copy of their The Freixenet Social Survival Guide. Great little book and a fun read. It covers all your Party Guest/Host Do's and Dont's plus so much more.

They also had a section which seemed perfect for this evening so I thought I would end this year by sharing some helpful passages brought to you by the makers of this fine bubbly beverage with many wishes from me for a Happy New Year and Bon Appetit for 2015!

THE FREIXENET SOCIAL SURVIVAL GUIDE

Selections from "Chapter 4 -- Cheers" (p. 39-48)

HOW TO HOLD A WINE GLASS

By the stem. Always by the stem. If you hold it by the bowl, cold white wines, champagnes, and martinis will lose their chill, while cellar-temperature reds will become too warm.

A NOTE TO THE SUAVE

Never drink to your own toast -- that is, when you're the one being toasted. It's equivalent to giving yourself a pat on the back.

GREAT OPENINGS

Whether it's a prestige selection from an ancient winery or a young, punky blend from a place you've never heard of, you should give every bottle of champagne...an opening that even a seasoned sommelier would approve of.

HOW TO OPEN A BOTTLE OF SPARKLING WINE

Make sure the champagne bottle has been stored on its side and hasn't been jostled recently. Check the temperature: it should feel like it just came out of the refrigerator (about 45° F.). If it's a bit tepid, put it on ice in a champagne bucket for 20 minutes.

1. Keep the bottle pointed away from every living creature, including yourself.

2. Prop the bottle on a table or counter top.

3. Remove the foil wrapper from the top part of the neck area.

4. Cover the top of the bottle with a cloth (a linen napkin or hand towel will do just fine).

5. While keeping the cork stabilized with one hand, loosen but don't remove the metal cage that holds the cork in place. This is done by untwisting the protruding wire loop. Never leave the cork unattended with the wire cage off.

6. Grasp the cork firmly. Hold the bottle from the base with your thumb inside the well and slowly twist it out from under the cork. Though you may hear a muffled pop, the bottle will likely let out a gentle sigh when the deed is done. 

7. Use a slow hand when decanting the bubbly into champagne flutes. Tilting the glass while pouring will help keep it from foaming up, but a slow, steady, trickle-like pour is the best strategy.

A NOTE TO THE SUAVE

Use narrow flutes or slightly flared tulip glasses when serving champagne. And don't chill the stemware. Sparkling wine is at its friskiest when served in cool, dry glasses.

NOTES

The Freixenet Social Survival Guide by Todd Lyon

Random House, Inc. (2000) / ISBN 0-609-50344-8

Freixenet comes from a Spanish winery who produces sparkling wine using the méthode champenoise (champagne method).  Because as you may know, only sparkling wines from the French province of Champagne can be called such.

My favorite is the Cordon Negro Brut (all black bottle), but Freixenet has a variety of cavas that you can try out, depending on what your taste runs to. 

Check It Out: Spiced Cranberry Prosecco Punch

With New Year's right around the corner, if you are looking for a festive beverage, you need to check this out. It's not a recipe of mine, but one I want to point you in the direction of. I've had this concoction a couple of times at holiday fiestas hosted by my friends Dana and Mike. It is ridiculously addictive and usually requires them re-batching several times during the evening.

When I finally got around to asking Dana for the recipe, it turns out that she got it online from "Heather Christo: Eat Well, Live Free. Deliciously Allergy Free Recipes," a great website you should check out. She has really sexy food photos. I've paraphrased the original recipe here for your convenience, but for how-to photos go check it out on her webpage.

Spiced Cranberry Prosecco Punch (paraphrased from Heather Christo)
makes 20 servings

cranberry ice cubes
2 ice cube trays
fresh or frozen cranberries

Place the cranberries in the ice cube trays, fill with water and freeze until hard, at least 4 hours to overnight.

spiced punch
bag of party ice
4 cinnamon sticks
zest of 2 oranges
5 cups cranberry juice
3 cups orange juice*
2 bottles Prosecco
2 oranges (regular or blood), sliced
1 cup dark rum or bourbon (optional)

Put bag ice and cranberry ice cubes in a large punch bowl or punch dispenser. See photo above.

Add in cinnamon sticks, orange zest and orange slices, then pour in the cranberry and orange juices.

Next stir in the prosecco and mix well.

Voila! Delicious, delicious, tantalizingly addictive punch.

NOTE

*You can do orange juice with no pulp or some pulp.  If you are using a regular open punch bowl, it doesn't really matter, if you are using a punch dispenser as shown above, you may have some spigot blockage if you get an orange juice with too much pulp in it so heads up on that.

Jack the Pirate's Mangria

 

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Mine has been both ridiculously fun and blog inspirational.

Yesterday my friend Deborah drug me out (all but kicking and screaming) for a tubing adventure with her Meet Up group. This is because occasionally I suffer from InARut syndrome. The day ended up being perfect -- sunny but not too sunny, water was cool but not too cool, fellow floaters were friendly and fun, so just the right of everything for a relaxing afternoon.

Many of our co-adventurers brought along adult beverages to make their afternoon float more even relaxing which made us sincerely regret our lack thereof. Yeah, that one's on me...I had a wagon moment before the weekend that left us "unprepared" for our water adventure. 

Then Jack saved our day. We were very happy to make friends with Jack, the awesome guy who shared with us his OJ jug of "just thrown together this morning" homemade sangria. YAY! This was not your everyday sangria, it was not too sweet and packed a bit of a punch that earned it the nickname "mangria" by one of our fellow floaters. 

So now, for your future floating adventure enjoyment, may I present Jack the Pirate's Mangria.

MANGRIA

3 cups orange juice
1 bottle red wine
2 oz. tequila
1 medium apple, cored and sliced (peel optional)
1 cup fresh blueberries

Mix. Drink. Nosh. Enjoy.

RIVER NOTES

For easy mixing and sipping, I highly recommend the Jack the Pirate method of using an empty or near empty orange juice jug (as seen in photo above). Has an easy-to-hold handle and is plastic (read: floatable) in case of mangria overboard.

FYI, Jack isn't really a pirate, we started calling him that because he reminded me of a pirate drinking from his grog jug and it just made sense at the time.

Mangria is best when sipped and shared, but make sure lid is securely fastened before passing from tube to tube to avoid spillage because it is only fun and games until someone spills the mangria and then it's no fun for anyone.

Orange juice, red wine and tequila brands are left entirely up to you. Pick your faves and make it happen.

The apple and blueberries are best consumed after they have been soaking for a while. My blueberries were not handpicked from a bush by my mom like Jack's were, but I did handpick the container from the grocery store collection. Close enough, still delicious.

And always, please please please, Remember to Float Responsibly. Thank you.

Steak Roll-Ups

 

Here's a little treat for all the red meat fans out there.  If you don't like or don't eat red meat, I think this recipe would work just as well with chicken breasts.

Steak Roll-Ups
Goat Cheese, Sun Dried Tomato, and Spinach Steak Roll-Ups with a Red Wine Reduction

1-1/2 to 2 lbs. flank steak, trimmed
2 oz. sun dried tomatoes
2 tsp. olive oil
3 oz. soft goat cheese
2 cups baby spinach leaves
2 cups red wine

Since no two steaks are going to start out the same, let me tell you what end result you are shooting for -- you want the roll-up steaks to be approximately 4-5" W x 7-8" L x 1/4" thick.

After trimming off the extra fat, I cut my original flank steak into 4-5" wide strips, then butterflied each to get two steaks out of each section.

To help flatten the steaks and tenderize them, cover them the wax paper or plastic wrap and give them a good once over with a meat mallet.  Flank steak is a cut that needs a little beating to make it more malleable.

Set aside.

In a food processor or blender, fine chop the sun dried tomatoes with the olive oil. Found out the hard way that my favorite sun dried tomatoes are not puree-friendly, but they worked out okay anyway.

 

Add goat cheese to the tomatoes and mix until well blended.

Lay out each steak and spread with a thick layer of the sun dried tomato-goat cheese spread.

Cover each slathered steak with a layer of baby spinach leaves.

Carefully roll up each steak and secure with toothpicks.

In a hot non-stick skillet, sear each rolled steak until nicely browned.  If you don't have a non-stick pan, make sure to add a little oil or cooking spray to the pan to keep the meat from sticking.

Once they steak rolls have a nice sear, finish them off in the oven preheated to 350 degrees.  Cook them uncovered for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the center of the steak reaches your preferred state of doneness.

To make the red wine reduction, pour 2 cups of your favorite red wine in a sauce pan and cook over medium-high heat until reduced.  For a thinner sauce, reduce to 3/4 cup liquid, for a glazier sauce, reduce to 1/2 cup.  I used a Valpolicella, a slightly sweet Italian Veneto red.

Once the steak rolls are done, remove from oven, plate and drizzle with the reduction.

Bon appetite!

NOTES

Don't forget to remove the toothpicks before serving!!! Fiber is important in a diet, but I don't think wooden toothpicks count.

In case you can't find soft goat cheese, you can blend together 2 oz. of crumbled goat cheese with 2 tbsp. of plain Greek yogurt to get the same effect.

 

If you can't find the California Sun Dry sun dried tomatoes, I would recommend using jarred SDTs.  They are usually packaged in oil, so drain off any excess and don't add any extra oil when you process them.  They may actually paste up easier than mine did.

Minny Guinny

 

I can think of no better way to end this St. Patty's Day weekend than with a drink and a toast.

I'd like to dedicate this post is to my besties Juli & F who are hitting the road for new life adventures.

May the winds of fortune sail you
May you sail a gentle sea
May it always be the other guy
Who says "this drink's on me"!  

Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Minny Guinny

1-1/2 oz Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur)
1/2 oz Bailey's (or other Irish cream liqueur)

Pour the Kahlua in a tall thin shot glass. 

Hold a spoon upsidedown over the top of the shot glass at an angle and pour the Bailey's on it so that it flows down the spoon onto the top of the Kahlua.  Or you can try to pour it in directly, but do it slowly and carefully without the spoon.

Bottom's up!

Minty Irish Coffee

 

Experiment time...this is my take on an Irish Coffee.  And it turns into this crazy toxic green color as you drink it. :)  Awesome.

Minty Irish Coffee

6 oz brewed coffee
1 tsp sugar
1 oz shot Jameson's Irish Whiskey
1 generous tbsp whipped cream, room temp
1/2 oz Creme de Menthe

In an 8 oz coffee cup, stir together coffee, sugar, and whiskey until sugar is dissolved.

Cover with whipped cream.

Pour Creme de Menthe over the whipped cream.

The traditional way to drink an Irish Coffee is not to stir it anymore, but sip it through the cream.

NOTE!!!

Don't forget about March Meatloaf Madness!  Send me your favorite meatloaf recipes so I can try out some new stuff.  Hoping to get some more good stuff before Wednesday!

Holiday Nogs

What is more Christmassy than enjoying a delicious cup of eggnog?  Nothing I can think of.  So for my fellow nog afficianados out there, here are a couple of new variations to sip on.  I found these in my Favorite Brand Names Appetizers cookbook and thought I would give them a try.  Not disappointed.

Raspberry Eggnog
Favorite Brand Names Appetizers, page 340, recipe paraphrased 

1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
4 cups skim milk, divided
2 egg, beaten
1 (12 oz) pkg frozen raspberries, thawed
1 tsp vanilla
6-9 drops red food coloring (optional)
ground nutmeg for garnish

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan.  Stir in 2 cups of milk and bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly.

Continue boiling 1 minute or until thickened, again stirring constantly.

Whisk small amount of hot milk mixture into eggs in a small bowl. 

Whisk egg mixture in saucepan and cook over low heat for 1 minute.  Strain and cool.

Place raspberries in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Strain and discard seeds.

Stir raspberry puree into the cooled milk mixture and add in remaining 2 cups of milk and vanilla.

 

 

Add food coloring (if wanted) one drop at a time until eggnog is the desired shade of pink.

Cover and refrigerate until cold or ready to serve.  Sprinkle with nutmeg.  Garnish with mint sprigs and raspberries, if desired.

Makes 12 (1/2 oz) cups.


Mocha Eggnog
Favorite Brand Names Appetizers, page 346, recipe paraphrased

1 qt eggnog
1 tbsp instant coffee
1/4 cup coffee-flavored liqueur
cinnamon for garnish

Heat eggnog and coffee granules in a large saucepanover medium heat until mixture is hot and coffee is dissolved. Do NOT boil.

Remove from heat and stir in coffee liqueur.

NOTES

I ended up not adding any red food coloring to the raspberry nog because I liked the light pink color it was without.

When it comes to straining the raspberry puree, after several messy attempts, I found the best thing to do was line a strainer with cheesecloth and squeeze it through.

NOTE

I used the instant expresso that I used for the cappuchino pie and Kahlua, because you can never go wrong with Kahlua.

Halloween Brews

With Halloween party season coming up, I whipped up a couple of fun new brews to try.   

Blackbeard's Treasure

1-1/2 oz Creme de Cassis
1 oz spiced rum (like Sailor Jerry or Captain Morgan)
gold sugar

Dip the rim of your glass in a tidge of water and upsidedown it in some gold sugar.

In a shaker with ice, blend together Creme de Cassis and rum.  Pour into your shiny glass and yarrrrrr ready to enjoy.

You can buy gold sugar anywhere they sell Wilton baking/cake decorating products.

My Lady's Spectre

1 oz orange vodka
1/2 oz black raspberry liqueur (like Chambord)
12 oz Fresca

Pre-chill the orange vodka and Fresca before mixing.  Blend and serve in a tall glass.  It will send a shiver down your timbers it's so boo-tastic.